City Lights
by Amarxlen
Summary: Underneath deep city lights a girl could get lost, or conversely she could be found. It was all a matter of perspective, and every person had a different answer. Hers, however, would always undoubtedly be that she had been both lost and found, all in one breath, one fateful summer night.
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1_

The city was bustling, although truthfully it never actually seemed to sleep, only fall into a lull between late settlers and early risers, everybody going about their daily lives the best they knew how. People shuffled past each other on the streets or tried to weave their way between lines of unmoving traffic. All the while towering buildings — offices, hotels, apartments, and restaurants — kept careful watch over the streets below.

For most people it was the lunch hour, and those walking the streets did so unhurriedly, casually discussing where to eat or quietly keeping to themselves. However, for one Natsumi Kiyomizu it wasn't a lunch hour, but rather the end of her shift, and she very much was in a hurry.

"Come on, come on," she muttered to herself, for once grateful to her petite stature as she squeezed her way through throngs of people walking in the opposite direction.

She normally took her time to get home, using the walk back to destress and occasionally stopping to get a coffee for herself and her roommate. Today was different though. Today she needed to get home as quickly as possible and of course, the one time she was in a hurry was when the streets seemed way busier than usual. She'd waited impatiently for the bus to arrive, checking the time on her phone and trying to calculate if it would just be faster to walk all the way home. In the end she'd settled for shuffling from foot-to-foot impatiently and then standing as close as she could get to the front of the bus — ignoring when the driver called at her to move back and make room for other people to get on.

The nearest bus stop to her apartment was five minutes away — on a good day — and she'd practically fallen down the stairs in her haste to get off of the bus once it finally arrived. Now she was pushing past people, ignoring when somebody called out an indignant "Hey!". As she raced down the street, she caught sight of a poster proudly proclaiming that this was the week for the auto show. That had to be the reason why her normally peaceful commute home had now been the most stressful twenty-three minutes of her day. She groaned and rolled her eyes, instead trying to focus on not missing her shortcut.

 _There!_

Natsumi bolted to the left, taking in a deep breath when the action let her into a deserted backstreet — the sort she had promised her parents she'd stay away from when she moved out and away from them and into the city. Desperate times, however, called for desperate measures. She clutched her phone in her pocket, thumb hovering over the emergency call button. It may have been the middle of the day, but she wasn't naive enough to think that meant she was entirely safe. Still, this back alley was the quickest way back to her apartment.

Stepping carefully past broken glass and other debris, she made her way through the alley, hopping over a puddle before finding herself safely on the other side. From here, she could finally see her apartment building — a tall red-brick building with ivy creeping up the walls and wrought iron railings leading up the front steps. She rushed up them, nearly twisting her ankle when she accidentally stepped in a hole in the step, catching herself on the railing and using it to pull herself up the rest of the way.

It took only a few seconds for her to fumble her keys out of her pocket and unlock the door, but it was a few seconds too long for her liking. She pushed through the door and raced up the stairs, cursing the fact that their apartment was on the fifth floor. It hadn't seemed like a problem when they moved in, even with the long hours they both worked, but now it was just another hindrance. She raced down the hallway to the door to her apartment, unlocking and opening it with just as much force as she had the one downstairs.

"Whoa, where's the fire?" her roommate asked, looking up with wide eyes from her seat on their couch.

Natsumi stopped in the doorway, breathing heavily. She had one hand braced on the doorframe and the other still wrapped around the handle. For some reason, even though she knew Kairi's schedule, she hadn't been expecting the girl to be home. She glanced past Kairi and back towards their bedrooms. Kairi's bedroom door was open, showing off her space of organized chaos and pink bedspread. Natsumi's door was firmly shut, just as she had left it last night.

"Natsu? You okay?"

She immediately looked back towards Kairi, stepping fully into their apartment and shutting the door behind her.

"Yeah, fine."

She let her backpack fall from her shoulder before placing it up on the hooks they'd put up near the door. The redhead raised an eyebrow.

"Really? 'Cause your face is redder than my hair, hun."

If it was possible for her face to become any redder, it would have at those words.

"Okay, seriously," Kairi continued, quickly pausing the show she was watching. "What's up? I didn't even hear you come in last night and then you were gone again. We agreed to check in with each other, remember?"

Yeah, she remembered. The girls had partially agreed to check in with each other just to appease their parents, but also because they both understood it wasn't the safest city that they lived in. Something that Natsumi had been reminded of the night before when she—

Her eyes darted to her closed bedroom door and when she looked back at Kairi, she was staring at Natsumi expectantly.

"Yeah, I know. I was just so exhausted from class, I wanted to get a nap in before work."

The redhead made a face at her.

"It doesn't take that much energy to pop your head in and say "hey, I'm home"."

Natsumi sighed, rubbing a hand over her face and finally realizing just how warm her mad dash back to the apartment had made her.

"I know, Kai, I know. It won't happen again."

"You're lucky I didn't tell Mom and Dad."

The blonde's eyes widened in horror. If their parents heard that she failed to check in with her stepsister she'd never hear the end of it. She didn't even want to test if they would be paranoid enough to try to force her and Kairi to come home. The only reason they'd even agreed to let the two girls move to the city in the first place was because Kairi's boyfriend and their childhood friend would be living just a few blocks away.

"You wouldn't!"

Natsumi rushed over to the couch, plopping down heavily next to Kairi, green eyes accusing.

"I didn't!"

"God, don't scare me like that." She slumped over with her head in her hands, running them over her head and to the end of her long ponytail.

"Relax. I wasn't nearly freaked out enough to rat you out to Mom and Dad. I saw your shoes by the door and knew you must be here. So you can chill."

Natsumi breathed a deep sigh of relief, looking back up at her stepsister.

"Thanks, Kai."

Kairi grinned at her.

"Don't mention it! Anyways," she said, glancing back towards the television and then quickly grabbing her phone off the coffee table to check the time. "Sora and Riku are going to be here soon for movie night. You're joining us, right?"

Natsumi's eyes once again darted to her closed bedroom door. She had a queasy sort of anticipation in her throat and she swallowed thickly.

"It's a little early for movie night, don'tcha think?"

"Night, day, same difference. They're bringing pizza and stuff. Are you in or not?"

"Depends," Natsumi said slowly. "I'll have to see if I can get my homework done."

"Aw, c'mon, Natsu! It's the weekend!"

"Yeah, and you know I have another shift tomorrow. I'm not gonna have a lot of time this weekend."

"Just _one_ movie? It's been too long since we've all hung out together."

Natsumi felt a small stab of guilt. It had been a long time since the four of them had all been together. Long enough that she couldn't even remember the last time they had. Things had been kind of weird between all of them since Sora and Kairi started dating — leaving Natsumi and Riku to both wonder if maybe _they_ should try dating each other instead of feeling like two awkward third wheels every time the four of them were together. Needless to say, it had only taken a few awkward dates and one very awkward kiss where they both burst out laughing at how ridiculous they felt before they realized they were just fine with being just friends.

"Alright, just one," Natsumi relented.

"Sweet! I'll let them know!"

Kairi's fingers were immediately tapping at her phone, presumably to let the boys know to bring enough food for the four of them — although knowing Sora and Riku they had already been planning to bring enough food to feed a small army — and Natsumi stood up to head back to her bedroom. She had her hand on the doorknob when she suddenly stopped and turned back towards Kairi.

"Hey, Kai?"

"Hm?" The redhead replied without looking up.

"You've been home all day, right?"

"Yup. Why?"

"Did you…" Natsumi trailed off and her slight hesitance caused Kairi to look up, locking those deep blue eyes on her. "Did you hear anything weird today?"

Kairi blinked at her.

"Weird how?"

Natsumi shrugged.

"Just like… Never mind. It's nothing."

"Okaaaaay…?"

"I'll be back out for movie night," she said, offering Kairi a smile and then rushing into her room and shutting the door quickly behind her.

She leaned against her door — well, she leaned against it the best she could with her coat hangers over the top of the door holding all of her hoodies and jackets — closing her eyes and taking another deep breath.

Her room felt quiet, still.

She opened her eyes again and took in her room, immediately feeling an inexplicable disappointment welling up inside of her. Her bed was unmade, deep green comforter thrown back and off the end of the bed because it'd been too hot for it recently but she hadn't put it away yet. Her curtains were shut, fighting against the midday sun and her clothes from the day before had been neatly tossed into her hamper. Everything was as it should be, except for the bandages and other medical supplies she'd left on her vanity. Supplies she'd have to put back soon before Kairi noticed they were gone and asked her why she'd needed them in the first place. She wasn't ready to…

Pushing herself away from the door, she crossed the room to her bed, sitting down on the edge and running her hands over the sheets. Try as she might to find it, there was no visible trace of what had transpired the night before.

Natsumi flopped onto her side, pulling her knees up to her chest and closing her eyes. They'd only been closed for a brief moment before they flew back open and she was grabbing at her pillow and holding it to her face.

 _This is so weird…_

And yet, she couldn't stop herself.

Her pillow still…

 _...still smells like him._

The mysterious man she'd met the night before, bloody and bruised, and insufferable as all hell.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hi all, thanks for checking out the first chapter of City Lights! This idea just kind of popped into my head and demanded to be written. If you have time, I'd love it if you left a review!


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

"Are you… okay?"

She moved forward hesitantly, both hands clenched tightly, one around her phone and one around the mace she was now happy her parents insisted she carry. The man was sitting against the wall, head bowed so that all she could see of him was his dark and spiky hair, and his black leather jacket that looked as though it had seen better days. The alley they were in was only dimly lit by a streetlight at either end, but she was almost certain that she could see blood on his hands.

"Why did you do that?" He spoke without looking up.

"Do what?"

She paused in her approach, but still felt it was safe enough to lower her mace and pull her thumb away from where she'd been poised to dial 9-1-1. After all, he wasn't the one who'd been beating somebody senseless with his gang buddies.

"Get involved like a fuckin' idiot. What, did you think you were Wonder Woman or something?"

The sardonic and biting tone to his voice made her eyes narrow in a glare. Before she'd consciously decided to do so she was throwing out her own retort.

"Oh, you mean saving your life? You're welcome, by the way."

She pocketed her mace and phone, crossing her arms and huffing.

"Didn't ask for your help," he scoffed, finally deigning to look up at her. The light was far too dim to see his face clearly, his features mostly shrouded in shadow. He paused for a brief moment and then snorted, though the action was quickly followed by a wince. "More like Tinkerbell, actually."

"So what, I should have let them have their way with you?"

"Shoulda minded your own damn business."

The man pulled his legs closer to himself, bracing himself against the wall and using it to leverage himself into a standing position — wincing the entire time. Her scowl softened as she saw how much trouble it took him just to stand and how much of his weight he was letting the wall support. He was clearly trying to maintain a bravado, but she could tell just from looking that he at least had some bruised ribs, probably a dislocated shoulder if the way he'd favored his left side was any indication, and possibly even a concussion. She wasn't entirely sure how hard he'd hit his head when he'd been thrown against the wall. There was no telling exactly what had happened before she'd showed up either. Somehow she didn't think he'd be very forthcoming with that information.

She twirled her hair tightly around her finger and bit her bottom lip.

"You're hurt." It was the only thing she could come up with, lame as it sounded.

He gave her a deadpan look in response.

"Nah, Tink, I'm always like this."

Part of her bristled at the nickname, but the other part compelled her forward, ignoring the way the man stiffened as she approached. Out of habit, she reached out to gently probe at his apparently injured side. He shied away from her touch, trying to back up before he realized he was completely backed against the wall and moving sideways instead.

"The fuck do you think you're doing?"

She looked up at him — he was decently taller than her — annoyance flashing across her features.

"Hold still and let me see how bad it is."

She reached out again, only to have him wrap his fingers around her wrists. Their eyes met, and she finally paused long enough to take in his features. His lips were parted slightly, twisted into a scowl and set underneath an angular nose. His dark bangs fell into his eyes, eyes that were a peculiar color she still couldn't quite discern in the dim lighting, but she could swear they were almost… gold.

Her breath caught in her throat at the intensity in his eyes and the suddenness of his movement. She felt herself freezing completely, unable to look away from his gaze. She'd thought that her pulse had slowed from the adrenaline rush she'd gotten earlier, but now she felt it racing again.

"I don't need your help."

Natsumi frowned at this.

"You're hurt. Badly. You could have a concussion, bruised ribs, and tell me if I'm wrong, but your shoulder is dislocated too. Or are you always like this?" She asked, looking pointedly at his shoulder.

He didn't answer, eyes surveying her skeptically as though the two of them were in a mental tug-of war and he hadn't expected her to put up a fight. She stared back. She wasn't about to let him intimidate her when she'd seen him getting his ass beat only a handful of minutes before this.

Finally, after what seemed like eternity, he was the one to break eye contact as he released her wrists. He stared at the end of the alleyway, expression almost… petulant? But he wasn't trying to leave and his hands were now hanging at his sides, so she reached towards him again, slowly.

The man tensed and then flinched when her fingers touched him, gently sliding up his side and across his ribs. Whether the actions were from pain or something else, she didn't know. She bit her bottom lip again and then suddenly she was pushing his jacket out of the way to place her fingers directly against the thin fabric of his t-shirt. He hissed and jerked away, causing her to look up at him sharply.

"Calm down there, Dracula."

"Bite me, Tinkerbell."

She rolled her eyes, ignoring the nickname and pulling her hands back.

"Well there's not much I can do for the bruised ribs, but you should definitely get to the hospital so they can check you out."

"Pass."

"Don't be an idiot. Your shoulder's definitely dislocated, and if you have a concussion you should be held overnight for observation."

"Thanks for the diagnosis, doc, but I'll take it from here."

He pushed himself off the wall, brushing past her and starting towards the end of the alley.

"Hey!"

Reflexively, she grabbed his arm — careful to make sure it was his uninjured arm — and stopped him in his tracks. She had no idea why he didn't want to go to the hospital and she knew she definitely wouldn't get an answer for that question, but she couldn't just let him walk away either.

"Let go."

"Come back to my place," she blurted out before the words had even registered in her mind.

The silence stretched long and tense between them, the pair frozen in place. It was quiet for so long that Natsumi started to wonder if she'd actually said the words out loud, or only thought them. Then, he turned and looked over his shoulder at her, eyebrow raised and drawing her attention to the fact that his forehead was bleeding. Their eyes met and his lips quirked up into a smirk. Heat immediately flooded to her cheeks.

"Movin' a little fast, ain'tcha, Tink?"

"Shut up! You know what I mean. Either come back to my place and I'll bandage you up, or I'll call 911 and _they'll_ take you to the hospital."

"What makes you think you can make me do either of those things?"

The fact that he hadn't yanked his arm away from her grip yet was a pretty good indicator.

"Call it intuition."

"Might wanna get that checked out then, 'cause I think it's broken."

"I'll get right on that," she quipped and then paused. "At least let me clean up your forehead. I could probably pop your shoulder back into place too."

"Probably? You inspire such confidence."

All at once she noticed that sometime during their conversation either he or she — or maybe even both of them — had stepped closer, causing the distance between them to shrink. Their arms were no longer extended fully. She looked down at where her fingers had slid down to his wrist and then back up at him. She didn't have a witty comeback on the tip of her tongue this time.

"It won't take long. My place isn't too far from here."

"You do realize you're trying to convince a complete stranger you found in a fistfight in an alleyway to come to your house, right?"

 _Well, when you put it like that..._

She hesitated, warnings from her parents, her friends, even from the pamphlets for the university she was attending flashing through her mind. And in the next breath she realized she wasn't going to heed any of them. The words that came out of her mouth next shouldn't have been so certain, shouldn't have been nearly half as certain as she realized she felt.

"I don't think you'd hurt me."

There was no reason for her to be sure of this at all and several, in fact, for her to think the opposite. But she was sure of it all the same.

"You should think harder then."

She didn't say anything to that, instead staring determinedly up the distance between them, never relaxing her grip on his wrist. The dark-haired man sighed, reaching up only slightly with his free hand before he cringed in pain and lowered it again.

"Yeah, fine, okay. Lead the way."


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

It didn't take long for them to get back to the apartment she shared with Kairi and she didn't release her grip on his wrist — slightly concerned that he would turn tail and bolt if she did — until she unlocked the front door of the building. Without thinking, she reached for his hand once the door was closed behind them and began leading him up the stairs.

Though the trek up the stairs couldn't be helping his pain, he didn't complain once. He was so silent behind her that were it not for the fact that his hand was still securely in hers she would have had to look over her shoulder and check to make sure that he was still there.

Questions filled her mind. Questions of why he had been in that alley, why he was with those men and why they were attacking him. She wondered how he'd thought he could fight off the three of them. Why had he been all alone, and why had he agreed to come back with her? So many questions filled her mind, but most importantly — who was this man, and why was she bringing him back to her home where her stepsister lived as well? If her parents ever found out, they'd kill her for sure.

She glanced over her shoulder at him, frowning. He was looking around the hallway, almost seeming bored despite the fact she knew he was in pain. The blood from the wound on his forehead was starting to clot, turning to a dark red smear across his skin. She couldn't stop her gaze from falling to their clasped hands, not understanding why he hadn't made her let go. His contradictory nature had her head spinning.

When they stopped at the door to her apartment he looked up at her, and it passed unspoken between them that they should be quiet. Not that he was much of a chatterbox anyways.

Stepping inside the apartment, she looked down and saw that Kairi's pale pink Converse were indeed by the front door. Thankfully though, she wasn't in the living room and a cursory glance of the apartment told Natsumi that she wasn't in the kitchen or bathroom either. She breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't particularly want to explain to Kairi what she was doing, especially when she could hardly explain it to herself.

A gentle tug on the man's hand prompted him to follow her further into the apartment and back to her room where she flipped on the lightswitch. Crossing the threshold made the situation suddenly feel, somehow, incredibly real, as though up until that point it was a dream she might have woken up from.

"I'll be right back," she said, releasing his hand.

He didn't answer, and it was only when she was collecting medical supplies from the hall closet that it occurred to her that she'd left a stranger who could rob her blind alone in her room. Even though that seemed highly unlikely considering his injuries. She looked to her open bedroom door and she wasn't sure if she was surprised or not to see that he'd moved, but only far enough to seat himself on the edge of her bed. Now that he thought nobody was looking she could see the bravado falter. Sitting on her bed was a tired man, wary and in pain, hand resting gingerly over his ribs as he looked around her room.

This answered one question at least.

She'd brought him back because, whether he'd admit it or not, he needed help.

As she made her way back to her room she made sure to jostle through the supplies in her hands. Not loud enough to wake Kairi up or prompt her to come out of her room to check what the noise was, but loud enough that the dark-haired man would hear her coming.

When she looked back up at him she found his mask back in place, once again looking at her with that bored expression and leaning back on his uninjured arm. At least he wasn't so proud as to aggravate his dislocated shoulder by putting weight on it. For some reason, the sight made her lips quirk up in a smile. She quickly shut the door behind her, ignoring his raised eyebrow. Clearly, as if he'd actually said the words aloud, she could hear his voice in her head saying, "The fuck you smilin' about?"

 _Let him wonder,_ she thought.

He had his secrets. It was only fair that she have hers as well.

Natsumi grabbed the chair from her vanity, moving to sit in front of him, their knees almost touching. Encouraged by the fact that he didn't pull away, she reached out and began to wipe the blood away from the wound on his forehead. Her heart was racing again as she focused on her work, trying to ignore the way his sharp eyes — and it was very clear now that they actually were gold after all — watched her steadily. She never felt this way cleaning up injuries at the hospital. She was searching for something, anything, to distract herself.

"What... happened?" she dared to ask.

"I got my ass beat, or did you already forget?"

She rolled her eyes, tempted to rub a little more forcefully than his wound required.

"Silly me, how could I have forgotten? I meant, what did you do to deserve getting your ass beat? Are they not as fond of your snark as I am?" she asked sarcastically.

"They didn't like that I said I wouldn't go home with them," he retorted.

Her cheeks flushed deep red and she averted her gaze from him, fumbling with the bandages in her lap.

"Nice deflection," she sputtered out, but the comeback passed her lips a bit too late to have much bite to it. "Fine. Don't tell me anything. It's not like I saved your life," she mumbled.

"That don't mean I owe you shit."

She scowled, grabbing his hand and beginning to clean his bruised and battered knuckles. His hands were callused and warm in her own and she felt as though hundreds of needles were pricking at the skin where they touched. The sensation didn't do much to ease her blush or racing heart. She could think of ninety-nine reasons off the top of her head that she _should not_ start crushing on this guy and ten of them were staring up at her in the form of the bloody knuckles she was bandaging.

"A thank you would be nice."

Releasing the first hand, she went to work on the other one. Subconsciously, she noted that he must be right-handed, judging by the fact that his right hand was in much worse shape than his left. A useless tidbit of information, but she now knew one more thing about him than she had a few moments ago. All was silent, except for a gentle inhalation.

"Thank you."

The blonde froze, eyes going wide. She hadn't actually expected him to thank her, she truly hadn't. His fingers flexed in her hands and she wasn't sure if the way he squeezed her hand was intentional or not. Her eyes darted up to find that he wasn't looking at her, instead gazing off to the side of her room, cheeks colored faintly.

"You…" His eyes found her again. "You're welcome," she said softly.

They stared at each other for a few moments longer before she pulled her gaze away. Silence fell again as she finished bandaging up his hands, lingering just a little bit longer than necessary before pulling away. She looked up and twirled the end of her ponytail around her finger.

"Now, to do something about your shoulder."

Either he was starting to feel more comfortable around her or he just couldn't keep the grimace from crossing his face.

"Have you ever treated a dislocated shoulder before? You probably think it's like in the movies, don'tcha?"

"It definitely _is not_ like in the movies." She sighed, glancing away from him and then back. "And no, I haven't… exactly done it myself. But I see it done all the time!"

He paused for a moment, looking her up and down.

"No, thanks, Tink. I don't feel like being your guinea pig."

She crossed her arms and eyed him coolly.

"If you know it's not like in the movies, then you know that it needs to be treated, and since you don't want to go to the hospital and I don't know anybody else who can fix your shoulder…"

He met her eyes, that mental tug-of-war starting up again. Technically she was lying, seeing as she did know somebody else who could fix his shoulder and she just so happened to be sleeping in the next room over. Not that she was gonna tell him that. She didn't think he was dangerous, but she still didn't want to get Kairi involved just yet.

The man groaned.

"Fine. Just try not to fuck it up."

As soon as he gave his permission she stood up, pushing her chair to the side and stepping closer to him.

"Take off your jacket and shirt."

"I knew it," he said with a smirk.

She knew she shouldn't play into his hands, he clearly had yet another smartass comment ready. Even so…

"Knew what?"

"You've been undressing me with your eyes since we met."

She snorted, feeling her cheeks heat up immediately at the fact that she made that noise in front of him. His smirk stretched wider.

"And you're stalling. Take them off."

"This is a kink for you, isn't it? Is it a hero complex or are you a dominatrix?"

"Neither!"

She was finding it hard to keep her voice down the more he prodded at her. It would be a little easier if she knew his name — she could use it to scold him or yell at him, she wasn't sure which at the moment. And it certainly didn't help matters that his damn smirk and teasing eyes were giving her butterflies.

"Just take off your shirt already."

The smirk never left his lips as he shrugged off his leather jacket, and it seemed like his amusement at her discomfort was more powerful than any pain the action caused him. He took off his faded black t-shirt more carefully though, the action unhurried. Almost as if he was trying to give her plenty of time to take in his well toned and muscular chest. Her eyes roved over his skin, widening just a bit as she noticed exactly how many scars he had. Besides going to the beach with Sora and Riku and seeing them shirtless, she'd examined plenty of shirtless men down at the hospital. There was no reason for this one particular man to make her heart speed up, but she couldn't look away.

"Enjoying the view?"

Her eyes darted back up to his face, looking way cockier than he had any right to be — after she'd just bandaged him up and was about to be fixing his shoulder — and she blushed.

"You have a lot of scars," she said without thinking. She couldn't help but notice that some of them seemed fairly new as well.

The smug look immediately dropped from his face and he averted his gaze from her.

"Just fix my shoulder already, would ya?"

She bit her lip. Somehow she had crossed a line she hadn't even known was in place.

"Yeah… sure."

She stepped forward, glancing up at his face and then away. He was avoiding looking at her and now she felt guilty, though she wasn't sure what for. Gingerly, she reached out to grab his arm, one hand on his forearm and the other on his bicep.

"I need you to hold your arm like this," she said, positioning it so his elbow made a ninety degree angle, "and I'm just going to slowly rotate it. Hopefully that shifts it back into place."

He nodded, still not looking at her. Natsumi took a deep breath, wondering if she should warn him that she was going to start before deciding to just go ahead and do it. One hand on his shoulder and the other still on his wrist she started slowly rotating his arm, biting down on her bottom lip. In theory, doing this should be easy.

Relief flooded through her when she felt his shoulder pop back into place, but as soon as it did he pulled his arm away from her. He reached up, rubbing at his shoulder with his left hand, moving his arm back and forth as if examining her handiwork. He was grimacing again and her attention was drawn to his lips where blood was starting to well up from a split she hadn't noticed earlier.

"Hey."

The man looked up at her, eyes widening slightly when she gripped his chin in one hand and used the other to dab at the cut with a tissue. She sat on the bed next to him, gently clearing away the blood until it seemed to stop. Then she looked back up.

His gold eyes regarded her carefully, as though he wasn't quite sure what to make of her. She bit her lip, heart beginning to race when she suddenly realized just how close her face was to his. Close enough that it would be easy to…

He reached up and gripped her wrist, gently pulling her hand away from his face. When he spoke, she could feel his breath ghosting across her face.

"Let me guess, you don't usually do this sort of thing."

She shook her head, trying hard to pin down a single coherent thought.

"Try never."

There had to be something wrong with her ears. Her voice couldn't possibly be this breathy and low.

His lips stretched upwards, and her heart spasmed in her chest at the expression that wasn't a smirk or cocky tilt of his mouth, but an honest to goodness smile. He released her wrist and leaned forward to cup her face in his hand. His gaze traveled around her face, falling down to her lips before back up to meet her eyes.

"First time for everything, huh?"

It felt as though she wasn't in control of her body, like she was a puppet on a puppetmaster's strings and she found herself nodding as her eyes slipped shut.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

"Natsuuuuumi!"

The voice was accompanied by a piece of popcorn smacking her square in the middle of her forehead. Belatedly, she jerked her hands up to ward off the attack as the popcorn fell harmlessly into her lap. She looked up, eyes landing on Sora who was cackling at the look on her face.

"Bullseye!" He crowed.

The brunet's arms were wrapped around Kairi as he rocked back and forth in his mirth at having caught Natsumi off guard. Her stepsister, the traitor, was giggling unabashedly.

"Don't waste popcorn," Riku scolded, leaning across the distance between the couch and the loveseat to give Sora a smack to the back of his head and snatch the bowl of popcorn away.

"Hey! Give it back."

"Learn to share." Riku took a handful of popcorn before offering the bowl to Natsumi. "I give you full permission to throw as much at him as you want."

"But you just said don't waste popcorn!"

Natsumi's lips twitched up into a smile as she took the bowl, ignoring Sora's cry of indignation and grabbing her own handful of popcorn.

"But he's expecting it now, I'd never get past his defenses."

She tossed some of the popcorn into her mouth before feigning throwing some at Sora. The effect was immediate, with Sora shouting, "No, I'm too young to diiiie!" and Kairi frantically trying to shield him with her tiny body.

"Don't worry, Sora, I'll protect you!"

It wasn't until a few moments later while Natsumi and Riku were still laughing hysterically that Sora and Kairi regained their composure, the couple mock glaring.

"That was evil."

"Says you," Natsumi shot back. "I'm not the one who actually threw popcorn."

Yet with those words her arm shot out, this time actually letting the popcorn fly across the room at Sora. His eyes widened and he moved his head to the side, opening his mouth wide just in time for the piece of popcorn to land perfectly on his tongue.

"Ohhhhhhh!"

"No way! You did not just do that!"

The blonde leaned forward, mouth hanging open in shock as Sora continued celebrating his victory. He had his tongue stuck out so that everybody could see the popcorn still sitting there. Natsumi turned towards Riku, mouth still hanging open in her shock.

"Did he just— Did that seriously just happen?"

"Yes, it did!" Kairi giggled.

"He did, and it did," Riku affirmed.

"HOW?"

"Because I'm freakin' awesome!"

"You're freakin' obnoxious, is what you are."

Sora ignored her comment.

"Was anybody recording that? Seriously, that needed to be on video!" His three friends all shook their heads and he groaned. "The coolest thing ever and nobody caught it."

"If you're so awesome, you should be able to do it again," Riku said.

"Yeah," Natsumi agreed, "try again."

This time she tossed an entire handful of popcorn at Sora. The brunet yelped, letting go of Kairi to shield his face from the barrage of popcorn as Kairi quickly tried to block any of it from reaching him.

"No fair, Natsu, that's too many!"

"And you made a mess."

"Oh, please, Kai. We both know that _I'm_ going to be the one picking it all up."

"Then why'd you throw it in the first place?"

"Sora started it! Why did you throw popcorn at me anyways?"

"We're trying to pick the next movie and you were totally spacing," Sora said.

"Yeah, Natsu. You had this dopey look on your face and were completely ignoring us." Kairi gave her a look. "What were you fantasizing about?"

Natsumi met Kairi's eyes and blushed.

"Nothing," she said quickly, breaking eye contact.

Maybe if they'd been alone she would have told Kairi about the mysterious man she'd brought home and almost slept with. She still didn't even know what to make of the encounter, or the feelings that came with it. The disappointment she'd felt when she realized he was gone was nonsensical — she didn't even know his name for god's sake. She couldn't even explain her pointless crush to herself, let alone to Kairi, Sora, and Riku. It wasn't like she was ever going to see him again. A pang went through her chest at the thought.

 _Stupid,_ she scolded herself. There was no reason for her to be feeling like this. No reason at all…

Looking back up, she was surprised to find that Sora and Kairi were gone. She could hear their voices coming from the kitchen, laughing and tossing flirtatious comments back and forth. Now it was just Natsumi and Riku, sitting side by side on the couch. Her silver-haired friend was looking at her knowingly.

"I sent them to make more popcorn and told them we'd pick out the next movie."

"Alright, so what should we watch?"

Natsumi got up from the couch and went over to the collection of DVDs she and Kairi shared. A few seconds later Riku was joining her.

"Actually, I wanted to talk."

She felt her heart jump into her throat.

"About what?" she forced out.

"About what you're daydreaming about."

Natsumi's gaze darted up to Riku and then back down. That quick look was enough to see that he was staring at her, aqua gaze seeing right through her, just like he always had, ever since they were kids. Riku had been there for every skinned knee, every game of pretend, every stupid childhood fight, practically every day and night since she and Kairi had become sisters when their parents had married when they were seven and six years old. Somehow, more than Sora or Kairi and though she loved each of them deeply, Riku had become her very best friend and confidant. Maybe that was why it had been so weird for them to try to date.

When she didn't answer, he spoke again.

"About _who_ you're daydreaming about."

Her lips quirked up in a smile. Of course he would know. He'd also been there for every silly crush, every broken heart, and every tear shed over a boy she wouldn't even be thinking about in a month or so. Of course he could read her like an open book when she began crushing on somebody new.

"You don't miss a thing, do you?"

He gave her a smile.

"I'm your best friend, it's kind of my job not to."

Natsumi laughed.

"Fair enough."

"So," Riku said, nudging her arm with his, "tell me what's going on with you, cause Kairi was right and you were _definitely_ fantasizing."

Her face flushed bright red as his words reminded her of the night before. They were both right. She had been fantasizing about that mysterious man, wondering what it would have been like to take that step further, replaying the moment when she'd tried to get closer and accidentally kneed his bruised ribs. That movement had effectively broken the spell and ruined the moment. He'd winced at the pain she'd caused and in the next breath both of them were pulling away, avoiding looking at each other. Natsumi had barely been able to stutter that he could stay the night and hadn't had nearly enough energy left to be surprised when he took her up on the offer. She wasn't sure if her clumsiness in that moment was a blessing or a curse.

"It's… hard to explain."

Riku glanced back at the kitchen where they could still hear Sora and Kairi goofing around.

"I'm all ears."

She took in a deep breath and looked up at him.

"There is a guy… I met him last night and kind of… brought him home?"

Riku's eyes widened as he sat up straighter. The look on his face was nothing short of alarmed and reproachful.

"You brought home some guy you didn't even know? What were you thinking?"

"He was injured and—"

"So why didn't he go to the _hospital_?"

Silence stretched between them. She knew Riku would like this answer even less than the others, but he was staring at her demandingly and she'd never been any good at lying to him.

"Natsu, why didn't he go to the hospital?"

"...he didn't want to."

"Didn't want…?" Riku stared at her in disbelief. "You know who doesn't want to go to the hospital when they're injured? Criminals, Natsu. People who are up to no good and have something to hide."

"It wasn't like that!"

"So he told you why, then."

"Well, no, but…"

"But what, Natsu?"

Natsumi hesitated, biting her lip and reaching up to rub at her collarbone. She was never going to see that man again, and yet for some reason it was imperative that Riku understand why this crush wasn't such a bad idea. Then again, maybe it was only _because_ she was never going to see him again that it wasn't such a bad idea.

"I don't know, Riku. I really don't. I've been thinking about it nonstop since last night and I can't explain it. I brought him here because he needed help, but past that…" She shook her head. "Past that he's just a stranger I can't stop thinking about."

"Do you even know his name?"

Her cheeks turned red and she looked away from him. In lieu of words, all she could do was shake her head. It all felt devastatingly final, but why should it?

"Did… did anything else happen last night?"

Natsumi paused.

"Like what?"

Now Riku was turning pink, and he couldn't meet her gaze.

"...oh. Oh! God, Riku, no!" She smacked his arm. "Do you seriously think I— I would _never_."

It wasn't technically a lie. Riku didn't have to know that in a temporary moment of insanity she had almost slept with a complete stranger and that maybe a teeny tiny part of her wished she had.

"Ow, hey! I know, I know," Riku rushed to say, waving his arms to fend her off and try to placate her. "It's just that you seem really into this guy, and you have no idea who he is, so I thought maybe there was more to it."

"Well, there's not."

"Got it. Yeesh."

She sent him another glare before turning back to the movie collection in front of them. Riku joined her in sorting through the titles and helped her settle on one, the first in a saga that the four friends knew by heart and quoted at each other.

"Did you guys pick the movie yet?"

"Yeah," Riku said.

"Good! We're almost done with the popcorn."

"And more pizza!"

Natsumi popped the dvd into the player and was about to move back to the couch when Riku caught her arm.

"Hey, Natsu?" She raised an eyebrow at his hesitance. "Just… be careful. If you run into that guy again, I don't want anything to happen to you."

Her expression softened at his genuine concern. Riku was always looking out for the three of them, and sometimes she thought he took his role as the oldest a little too seriously. She placed her hand on his in response.

"I will be, Riku. I promise. Besides, I'm sure I'll never see him again, so there's nothing to worry about."

"What are we worrying about?"

Sora walked back into the living room, precariously balancing a box of pizza while simultaneously juggling a two liter and fresh glasses in his other arm. Behind him, Kairi had a bowl of popcorn the size of her torso.

Natsumi and Riku exchanged a glance before pulling away from each other. The blonde grabbed the pizza to place on the coffee table and then pulled a slice out of the box.

"Oh, nothing," she said with a coy smile as she bit into her pizza.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hi all! Sorry I haven't been very good about updating lately. I've been bouncing around from project to project, but none of them seem to really be striking me with that overwhelming feeling of inspiration. I'm still trying to brainstorm for City Lights and Soul Eater, but I've also started kind of working on a new AU called Habitual Sinner, and another AU that doesn't have a title yet. Chapter 5 of Soul Eater is in the works too. Hoping to get **_one_** of those up soon, but I don't want to make any promises. Well, until next time!


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5_

The dark-haired girl looked up from her textbook as the door opened, lips stretching into a smile when she recognized her older brother.

"Where have you been?"

Vanitas didn't answer, shrugging off his jacket and revealing his bandaged hands. The sight caused Xion's smile to falter. Though her brother tried to hide it from her, her practiced eyes never missed the injuries he he came home with. Having seen these minor injuries, she instinctively began scanning him for worse, knowing that Vanitas wasn't one to admit to her when he was hurting.

Right away she could pick out the careful way he took off his jacket, slightly favoring his right arm. A closer look told her that it wasn't dislocated and, looking up, she was surprised to see that his forehead had been bandaged as well, the flash of white standing out briefly and starkly against his dark hair.

Her smile had dropped completely into a frown the longer she surveyed her brother. Xion was usually the one to bandage him up, when he even bothered to come to her to ask for help — which usually consisted of a noncommittal shrug and various grunts that were the only indication he was in pain. More often than not though, he was content to let his cuts and bruises face the open air. She knew it wasn't from any sense of misplace pride in showing off the scars, but in the fact that he didn't want to worry her. And for the first time, her confusion outweighed her worry.

She got to her feet, abandoning the textbook on their small kitchen table as she crossed the room. Neither of them spoke as he let her examine the extent of his injuries. It was a silent agreement the two of them had, that Vanitas would let her make sure that none of his injuries were anything to worry about, and she wouldn't ask any questions.

"What happened?" she asked, unable to stop herself.

His lips flattened into a thin line that wasn't exactly a frown but was still an obvious sign of his displeasure.

"Xion…" He uttered her voice lowly, a warning that she didn't hear.

Her hands reached up, brushing his bangs out of the way so that she could examine the bandages on his forehead. After a quick look, she abandoned that to grab his hand in hers and inspect those bandages as well. Her brow furrowed. This wasn't her brother's handiwork, no, this was the work of someone much more practiced, someone who had done this many, many times before. She knew well her brother's sloppy attempts at covering his wounds, when he even bothered to try at all.

She met his gold eyes again, the only thing that differentiated them, and even despite that, they still sometimes got mistaken for twins.

"Who did this?"

Xion didn't have to specify for him to know that she didn't mean who had attacked him, but the person who had taken care of him afterwards. He yanked his hand roughly from hers, brushing past her and into the kitchen where he reached into the cupboard and pulled down a plastic cup to fill with water. Crossing her arms, Xion turned to watch him, letting out a huff that ruffled her bangs.

"I know you'd never go to the hospital, and it's obvious you didn't do that yourself, Van."

Vanitas didn't meet her eyes and she felt her frown deepen. It wasn't often that her brother couldn't look her in the face, but she could usually figure out _why_. This time she was completely lost until she stepped closer and caught the blush on his cheeks and the familiar wistful look on his face.

"It was Natsumi?" she blurted out.

Sharp gold eyes snapped over to her. Immediately he stood up straight, dumping the water down the drain and putting the cup in the sink without taking a single sip of it. He crossed his arms as well, looking down the distance between them as she heard his boot make contact with the cupboard behind his feet.

"Mind your business, Xi."

Xion bristled at his tone, but knew that as long as he was still using her nickname, he wasn't truly upset with her, yet. He stepped away from her again, a clear indication that he wanted the conversation to be over.

"How did that happen?"

"I said drop it, pipsqueak," he said without looking at her. His hands clenched the back of the chair she'd been sitting in, his eyes finding her open textbook. "Don't you have studying to do? Put that big brain of yours to work."

"You've been pining after her for months. How is it now that she ended up fixing you up after…?"

Her frown was back, realizing that she had no idea what had happened to Vanitas. Not that she ever had an inkling what happened to her brother on those nights he came back covered in cuts and bruises. She'd long since learned her lesson about prying about where they came from when Vanitas had refused to talk to her for a week. It didn't do anything to assuage her worries, but she much preferred the brother that talked to her over the one that ignored her. He was all she had, and she looked up to him more than anything, even if she suspected that the nature of his injuries were particularly unsavory.

He glanced up at her from under his bangs, letting the silence stretch between them. Finally he sighed, face carefully expressionless when he said, "Because fate's a bitch."

Xion's face scrunched up in confusion and distaste. Vanitas could be such a drama queen sometimes.

"Well, whatever that means, I don't understand why you don't just talk to her. You see her all the time when you come to pick me up."

"It just wouldn't work, Xi."

It wasn't the first time she'd heard the statement, and she was annoyingly certain it wouldn't be the last. He even said it with the same exact tone as all the other times she'd heard it.

"But _why_?" she pressed. "How can you be so sure if you don't even—"

" _Xion_."

Her mouth snapped shut instinctively, lips jutting out in a pout. She _hated_ when Vanitas got like this — self-deprecating and brooding. She had a feeling it had to do with all the things he kept secret, even from her, but she didn't understand how anybody could not like her brother. She saw that he was rough around the edges, but underneath it all he was the person who had taken care of her when everybody else had failed them. Fists clenching, she looked away from him.

"Fine. All I'm saying is, she might surprise you."

Vanitas didn't agree, but he didn't reprimand her again either. All she wanted was for him to see that he deserved happiness as much as anybody else. For years, he'd been putting his baby sister above any of his own wants and needs, despite even her own insistence that he stop.

The younger sibling closed the space between them, reaching up hesitantly to place her hand on his shoulder. She felt his shoulder rise and then fall with his breath, but took it as a good sign when he didn't brush her off or tell her to get lost. Xion wrapped her arms around him, giving him one quick squeeze.

"You're more loveable than you think, Van."

He tensed when she said the words, and she took that as her cue to gather up her textbook and take her leave back to the only bedroom in their small apartment, all the while desperately hoping that her words would finally get through to him.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hi guys! Sorry for the long wait for, well, anything here. Things have gotten pretty hectic in my life (but are finally settling down) and I started working on a KH Imagine blog with Curryfury13/HinataOC under the name lucky0stars! So all of that has kept me pretty busy, but I think I'm getting the hang of it and will be able to manage my time better to give you guys some more chapters. I'm trying to cycle through all of my projects, so there should be a new chapter of something else soon. Thank you guys so much for your patience, and if you have time - please leave a review and/or check out lucky0stars!


End file.
